The present embodiments relate generally to boats, and more particularly as discussed herein but without limitation to tillers used in boats such as sailboats and iceboats. Both sailboats and iceboats operate by harnessing wind and are thereby propelled upon the water or ice, respectively. A sailor steers both kinds of boats by controlling a tiller that is connected to a steering member, such as a rudder in a sailboat, or runners (sometimes called skates or skis) in an iceboat. In both cases the tiller is connected to a steering post which, in turn, is connected to the steering member. Typically, the tiller in a sailboat is situated between the sailor and the stern (rear end) of the sailboat. Typically, the tiller in an iceboat is situated between the sailor and the bow (front end) of an iceboat, although stern-steering iceboats exist as well.
The sailor must have the necessary skills and ability to control a number of operational parameters to navigate a course at a desired direction and a desired speed. Some inherent characteristics of boating, such as in but not necessarily limited to competitive boating, subjects those skills and ability to heightened scrutiny, making it advantageous for the sailor to seek out and apply methodologies and technologies that aid in navigating the designated course. The ability to collect, store, and recall navigational information in a meaningful and useful way along the course is illustrative of the types of methodologies and technologies being pursued. It is to improvements in those methodologies and technologies that the claimed embodiments are directed.